Gerald Koh on Bon Fresco

Columbia resident Gerald Koh has been busy over the last few months, overseeing the building and inspection processes of his new restaurant venture, Bon Fresco. Koh, who earned a BS in accounting from College Park in 1982, has been working in the food-service industry for over twenty years.

In the cube behind Ledo's Pizza in Owen Brown, Koh works daily meeting with potential employees, contractors and inspectors. He says he hopes to open Bon Fresco to the public by June 15th.

Bon Fresco is small, about the size of your average Subway restaurant and will employ only 15-20 people. Thankfully, I count myself among those 15-20 employees. Details are hard to come by but Koh says menus will be printed by Tuesday. The specific items of the menu aren't yet known by anyone except Koh, but we can look forward to Koh's favorite menu item; Israeli couscous, made with caramelized onions, dried apricots and feta cheese.

"I like to have food that is good for you, that is tasty. That is what America is all about," says Koh while standing at his impromptu desk. Koh says many restaurants in the area work on three basic principles: good bread, freshness and service. He points out however that none of his competitors have nailed all three yet.

When asked, he says restaurants like Chipotle and Panera Bread will be his primary competitors.

So where does the name Bon Fresco come from? Koh says he spent a lot of time thinking of names for his concept company like sweet and fresh, sweet and simple. Finally he came up with good and fresh. Bon Fresco translates as good and fresh in Italian and French respectively.